McDonald's unveiled a new mascot named "Happy," an anthropomorphic box with a huge set of teeth.
According to the company, the character, which was originally introduced in France in 2009 and unveiled stateside on Monday, is supposed to bring "fun and excitement" to kids' meals and be an ambassador for balanced and wholesome eating.
Say hello to our newest friend, Happy! http://t.co/CuR3hU8Chj #HappyMeal pic.twitter.com/xgluLaHfcY— McDonald's (@McDonalds) May 19, 2014
[seealso slug="mcdonalds-happy-mascot-here-to-stay"]
However, Happy's grin is perhaps just a tad too much for the age of memes and social media. Shortly after the mascot's introduction, Twitter started piling on jokes about Happy's appearance.
"Do you eat it? Or does it eat you?" asks one Twitter user, while another says he's going to "have nightmares" about it.
Looks like kids are scared of the new #McDonalds mascot 'Happy' http://t.co/ySMNFgiDXu #Fail pic.twitter.com/mHyYVgYNr1— Robert McGovern (@RobMcGov) May 20, 2014
Introducing the new McDonald's mascot, "Happy" I badly wanted to believe this was a hoax. pic.twitter.com/YNZdx4n9FW— azwan a. adkins (@saintnicotine) May 20, 2014
Do you eat it? Or does it eat you? RT @MarketWatch: McDonald's 'terrifying' new Happy Meal mascot goes viral http://t.co/UL2iMMVEes— Nathan Hager (@nhagerwnew) May 20, 2014
Jesus christ I’m going to have nightmares about the new McDonald’s mascot. http://t.co/aF223xkZ4C— Josh Helfferich (@JoshHelfferich) May 20, 2014
Hey @McDonalds is that Gary Busey?— Ian (@muddymudskipper) May 19, 2014
McDonald's joins effort to curb childhood obesity by introducing mascot no kid will go near http://t.co/UFTNUJFzvv pic.twitter.com/5YeLxJEZ6k— Jillian Sederholm (@JillianSed) May 19, 2014
Not all the reactions are negative though. One user says he thinks the kids will love it. Still, the adjective we see the most is "terrifying."
I think kids will love it. RT @jamieyuccas: What do you think of @McDonalds new mascot, "Happy?" pic.twitter.com/SSACK84l3l #WCCOMorning— Jason DeRusha (@DeRushaJ) May 20, 2014
Time will tell how Happy will fare with McDonald's global customer base. For now, we're afraid the meme-makers and Photoshop wizards will have their way with it, and we don't think McDonald's will be too happy about it.